[Bydand]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

Thanks. Reasons?

The west side of the State tends to be a bit more laid-back and family is still a HUGE thing here. Not in the sense of "which" family you come from, but in that Family is still held in high regard. The sense that kids really are our future is a part of real life here, and not just lip service to an ideal that few actually hold.

It is a place where people save all year to spend a week or two in the summer, and I get to enjoy it all year as my own backyard. For me personally it is the right "feeling" for an area I want to be in. Kind of intangible and unmeasurable I know, but I think everybody knows what I am saying. It is an area that lets people be who they are and not stifling in false or shallow outward expressions toward each other. People actually smile at strangers here. The store clerks will honestly wish you a good day with a smile, or comment on how great a day it is to be alive and enjoy it out there. (Been told that several times in the past couple weeks alone)

Plus I love watching the sunset over Lake Michigan on calm days and on stormy days. If it is too cloudy for a sunset, then just wild waves crashing into shore as it slowly gets darker and darker is thrilling as well. That first step on the beach each Spring and hearing that "squeeeeeek, squeeeeeek, squeeeeek" as you walk along the shore never gets old. That first bit of color in the maple trees signaling the coming Fall as the branches sweep the top of the river current as you are fishing for prime King Salmon or Steelhead. I've been ALL over this Country; one look at my address tells the story of where I personally think is the greatest place in the US.

The UP for it's solitude and just how ruggedly beautiful it's landscapes and its people are. No pretense, no BS; "what you see is what you get" is a very desirable trait to me. Plus I graduated from up there, and will always hold the UP in a very special place in my heart.

[Dwatted Wabbit]

^^ Thanks, bydand.

Interesting.